"I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The air raid was announced at around 2:30 p.m. local time, while the explosion sounded around 2:50 p.m. The number of victims killed rose to three, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported at 8:42 p.m.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva claimed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had appealed to his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to ask Putin if he was willing to conclude a peace agreement.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
Ukrainian soldiers from the tank battalion of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo are seen with a T-72 tank on positions near Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Olast on June 26, 2023. (Photo: Wojciech Grzedzinski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ukraine's offensive operations near Bakhmut may force Russia to make a difficult decision on whether to pull defending forces from other regions of Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest analysis.
Russia has already deployed reinforcements to the Bakhmut area, where Ukrainians reported making headway in clawing back captured territory.
ISW cited Russian sources, which reported Ukrainian counteroffensives along four sections of the front.
Ukraine's counteroffensive, which began in early June, has so far been going slow, with Ukraine saying that the bulk of its forces hasn't yet been committed.
Russia lacks the troops to defend the entire 800-kilometer front line with equal vigor, experts told the Kyiv Independent in May.
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Asami Terajima
